Row houses that could be demolished for a central precinct police station were built in the late 19th and early 20th century for African-American laborers.

Row houses that could be demolished for a central precinct police station were built in the late 19th and early 20th century for African-American laborers. Eric Curl/Savannah Morning News

Eric Curl/Savannah Morning News

Row houses that could be demolished for a central precinct police station were built in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Row houses that could be demolished for a police station were built in the late 19th and early 20th century for African-American laborers.

Row houses that could be demolished for a police station were built in the late 19th and early 20th century for African-American laborers. Eric Curl/Savannah Morning News

In planning for Cuyler-Brownville’s future, the city of Savannah intends to sacrifice some of the area’s historic past.

The attached row houses the city is eyeing for demolition to make way for a Savannah-Chatham police station date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, according to Ellen Harris, director of urban planning and historic preservation for the Metropolitan Planning Commission.

Peter Wiltberger Meldrim bought the land in 1882 and began building the modest cottages to house African-American workers, Harris said, and the area became known as “Meldrim Row.”

Meldrim was a state senator and representative, as well as Savannah’s mayor for two years beginning in 1897, before serving as a Superior Court judge of the Eastern Judicial Circuit until his death in 1933.

“Meldrim’s development of Meldrim Row is significant as one of the earliest attempts to provide adequate housing for minorities in Georgia,” according to the Cuyler-Brownville’s National Register of Historic Places registration form.

Fronting each side of 33rd and 34th streets, between Montgomery Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the row houses have no protective measures in place because they are not within a designated local historic district, Harris said.

The row houses are within an unprotected gap that separates the local Cuyler-Brownville and Thomas Square Streetcar historic districts by about one block, with the Victorian Historic District on the northern end at Anderson Lane.

The row houses are contributing structures to Cuyler-Brownville’s national historic designation, Harris said, but the status would only impede the project if federal funds were going to be used.

The City Council unanimously agreed to buy the property for almost $1.1 million from Century Investors on May 29, pending the results of a 120-day review. Mayor Edna Jackson had recused herself from the vote, stating she did not want her friendship with Robert James, managing partner of Century Investors, to be seen as a conflict of interest.

City officials said they plan to use locally raised sales tax revenue to fund the project, which will allow the city to move the central precinct station out of leased space on Bull Street.

City Attorney Brooks Stillwell said the city was aware of the property’s history when the location was selected.

“That was one of the many things considered, but in the balance of things we think that was the best site,” he said.

Similar historic row houses also built by Meldrim on the other side of MLK are within the local Cuyler-Brownville district, and their demolition would have had to be approved by the planning commission.

The historic designation of those dwellings was behind the city’s decision to rule out the site, which had been considered for the station before planning commission staff recommended against it, Stillwell said.

A total of 28 sites were considered during the selection process, with the goal of finding accessible property that was the right size and in a location that would impact crime and serve as a catalyst for development in the area, according to a staff report.

The city also sought a location north of Victory Drive, which ruled out other locations such as the Coastal Empire Fair site on Meding Street, which was put on the market after a gang-related shooting there in late 2012.

Other sites, including the shopping center on Waters Avenue the city had initially purchased for the station, were not selected due to leasing and other status issues.

Another location on the west side of MLK at 31st Street came the closest of all the rejected sites to being selected, but the property had multiple owners, including two operating businesses and a church, that would have increased the purchase costs and acquisition period, Stillwell said.

Daniel Carey, Historic Savannah Foundation president and CEO, said he supports the project, although it will be unfortunate to lose a critical mass of historic housing. The rehabilitation of the historic structures across the street, as well as a reduction in crime and revitalization of the neighborhood, will make the loss more “palatable,” Carey said.

“But, it’s a little tough right now,” he said.

There were 18 total part-one crime incidents in Cuyler-Brownville from April 2 through May 6, up from 17 during the same period last year, according to Savannah-Chatham police. Those incidents included two robberies, two aggravated assaults and eight residential burglaries.

Denise Ford, a resident of one of the row houses being demolished, said her door was kicked in by a burglar who stole her television and laptop last year. While moving will be an inconvenience for her, Ford said the police station could help improve the area.

“It might help deter crime,” she said. “You have to be very bold to commit a crime that close to a police station.”

The condition of the structures, some of which are boarded up, was described as average and poor in a January appraisal report by the Johnnie Ganem Appraisal Co., which stated the units had been neglected during the past year due to the potential sale. The report valued the property and the 36 multi-family units at $925,000.

James said he and his partner, William Stiles, were approached by the city about selling the property on the west side of MLK about two years ago before everyone agreed on the east side, outside the local historic district.

It would not have been reasonable to invest in properties about to be torn down, he said.

If the city goes through with the sale, James said, the remaining historic structures on the west side of MLK will be renovated and serve as the new homes for the 20 tenants being displaced.

In addition, he said, the precinct will help protect those structures and enhance the area.

“I don’t think the history will be lost,” he said.

Row houses restored through public-private partnerships

The property and row houses the city plans to buy for almost $1.1 million for a central precinct police station, along with additional property and apartments across Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, was acquired and renovated in the early 1990s by Century Investors, a partnership between Robert James, president of Carver State Bank, and William Stiles, executive director of Old Savannah City Mission.

The project included about $3 million in development financing used for acquisition and renovation of the 82 units, including a $2.6 million city loan using federal housing grant funds, according to Martin Fretty, the city’s housing department director.

The city loans were paid off once the renovations were complete and the units were ready to lease, using a $2.4 million bank loan and $945,000 loan from the Community Housing Services Agency, a partnership between the city, local banks and community leaders, Fretty said.

James said the row houses were some of the most dilapidated structures in the city before their purchase and restoration.

“They were total slums,” James said.

The project was an investment in low-income housing, and with two-bedroom and three-bedroom units renting for $485-$525 a month, that has continued to be the aim, he said.

While not required by the city, the work was also an informal initiative on their part to employ as many minority contractors and workers as they could, James said.

He said the loans have not been paid off and the housing services agency will have to approve the transaction before it can take place.

ABOUT THE CENTRAL PRECINCT SITE ROW HOUSES

• The north side of West 33rd Street, 402-416 West 33rd St., contains four sets of duplexes, which were constructed between 1882 and 1884.

• The south side of West 33rd Street, 401-417 West 33rd St., consists of four duplexes and one single family residence, which were constructed in 1912.

• The north side of West 34th Street, 402-418 West 34th St., consists of four duplexes and one single family residence, which were constructed in 1913.

• The south side of West 34th Street, 419-421 West 34th and 403-417 West 34th St., consists of a two story duplex constructed between 1888 and 1898 as well as four duplexes.